OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Exceptional drought has expanded in parts of Oklahoma.
The U.S. Drought Monitor shows about 40 percent of the state is mired in exceptional drought, the worst in the monitor's classification system.
A map indicates exceptional drought stretching from central Cimarron County in the Oklahoma Panhandle eastward into Osage County near Tulsa. Another swath stretches south from Ellis County to the Red River and then north and east into McClain County in central Oklahoma.
About 51 percent of Oklahoma is in extreme drought and about 9 percent is experiencing severe drought.
Last week, 53 percent of the state was in extreme drought.
Triple-digit temperatures returned to the state in the past week, but an approaching cold front is expected to provide cooler temperatures and chance of rain.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
